Building construction



N0v.10,1936. N; DAVIDSON 2,060,045

BUILDING' CONSTRUCTIO Filed Sept. 23, 1935 Patented Nov. 10, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Nathan Davidson, Los Angeles, Calif. Application September 23, 1935, Serial No. 41,749

4 Claims.

My invention relates broadly to building construction and more particularly to a novel type of brick for use in said construction which makes possible a simple and effective reenforced wall 5 that will withstand various types of strain and shocks, particularly those arising from earthquakes and like disturbances.

Brick construction has long been recognized as an economical and desirable means for building, but heretofore it has had one inherent weakness in that the bricks used and the conventional method of forming the brick construction have failed to produce structures which can withstand severe earthquakes. It is therefore the principal object of my invention to provide a brick -which is both simple and durable and which lends itself to the building of a structure which is highly resistant to earthquakes and like shocks. I accomplish this in general by providing a brick having 20 grooves in one of its vertical faces.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a brick which can be adjustably tied in to other bricks to give additional strength to the structure wherein they are used, so that a wall comprising two or more tiers of bricks made according to my invention can be formed with bricks of slightly varying dimensions and still bel both highly resistant to earthquakes and symmetrical.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a system of combining reenforcing steel with a brick structure in such a manner that the structure will have a series o f steel cored vertical locks or keys which add greatly to the strength of a wall made with my novel type of brick.

For the purpose of defining the term brick as used throughout the specification and claims, I adopt the following definition found in the Clay Products Manual, published by theI Clay Products Institute of California, and it is to be understood that wherever I use the term brick, I mean a structural unit made from clay or shale formed while plastic into the desired shape and size, usually rectangular and then burned at a high temperature in a kiln, usually about 2000 F.

These and other objects of my invention will become readily apparent from the following description of a preferred form thereof and from the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. I is a perspective of .a section of wall built according to my invention.

Fig. II is a perspective of my preferred form of brick.

Fig. III is a plan section of a two oursewall taken at 3 3 in Fig. I.

(Cl. 'l2-30) Fig. IV is a side elevation of the horizontal tie rod.

Referring now to the drawing, and particularly to Fig. II thereof, the numeral I indicates generally a brick of substantially conventional length and breadth, but preferably of more than conventional depth, although the exact dimensions and proportions may be varied at will depending on the need. The ends Il and I2, and the side I3 are formed as plain rectangular surfaces, the brick I0 preferably being a rectangular parallelepiped in over-all shape. The side or vertical face I4 is provided with a plurality of (preferably 3) substantially vertical semi-cylindrical grooves I6, I'I and I8, equally spaced along the face I4 and 15 substantially parallel to each other. A pair of vertical holes I9 and 20 extend through the brick approximately midway between the faces I3 and I4, although if desired they need not go clear through the brick. The shape of that portion of the internal face of holes I9 and 20 adjacent to the face I3 is immaterial, but can conveniently be made semi-cylindrical for ease of construction. The internal hole face adjacent the brick face I4 may be formed as a semi-cylindrical surface with a projecting shoulder 2| therein to provide a pair of walled recesses and 26 differentially spaced from the brick face I4 to provide inner and outer bearing surfaces for the horizontal ties hereafter described. 3o

Referring now to Fig. III wherein a section of wall is shown, the bricks being designated as Ill, Illa, Ib, I0c and IUd, it will be noted that the bricks are laid with their grooved faces I4 opposing each other and with the end groove I 6 35 of brick IIJ being immediately opposite end groove I 8a of the opposing brick I0a. The middle groove I1 of brick I0 is opposite the junction of the bricks Illa and IIlb and end groove I8 of brick I0 is immediately opposite end groove I6b of 40 brick yIllb. Staggering the bricks thusly is of course in accord with conventional bricklaying practice. However, by providing the grooves I6, I'I and I8, and the corresponding grooves in the other bricks, a solid vertical key is formed binding the bricks against longitudinal shock when grout or other cementitious vmaterial is poured between the bricks to fill the respective grooves and form a solid hard body therein.

As additional means of strengthening the wall 50 against lateral movement of the bricks, ties 23 may be provided in the form'of simple wire hooksv laid horizontally across the bricks with depending ends 21 and 28. insertable into the oppositely positioned holes I8 and 20 of opposing bricks. It 55 is of course essential that the outer faces of the bricks be in one plane so that the wall will be relatively even and smooth. It is well known that bricks will vary in size due to numerous causes and this is particularly true in the case of hard burned bricks which because they have a higher shrinkage on burning are more apt to vary in resulting size. To take care of this factor the holes i9 and 2G are formed with a plurality of recessed faces at different distances from the brick face I4 as previously described so that although all of the ties 23 are of the same length, the individual brick positions can be varied to allow for differences in size.

As will be seen best from Fig. DI a number of positions of adjustment are possible for the ties 23 when used in combination with holes i9 and 20 of the type previously described, making it possible to adjust the lateral position of the bricks with respect to each other and the outside face of the wall to compensate for slight variations in size of the bricks due to any uneven molding, firing or other causes.

In Fig. III proceeding from left to right, it will be seen that the tie 23 runs from the inner recess of hole ISrL to the outer recess of hole 26C. The tie 23a runs from the outer recess of hole 20a to the inner recess of hole i9. The tie 23h runs from the inner recess of hole |91) to the outer recess of hole 2U and the tie 23e runs from the inner recess of hole 2Gb to the inner recess of hole 19d. The tie 23d runs from the outer recess of hole 19e to the outer recess of hole 20d.

As previously mentioned, by pouring a cementitious grout between the bricks to fill up the cavities formed by the vertical grooves, a series of vertical pillars or locks is formed between the two courses of brick which because they completely fill the grooves and because of the bond between grout and the brick face effectively prevent any longitudinal movement of the bricks of one course with respect to those of the other, this being particularly true when horizontal ties such as those illustrated at 23 are used to hold the bricks against lateral motion. In practice the holes I9 and 2G after the ties 23 are placed may either be filled with mortar or may be lled with grout depending on the strength desired.

Referring now to Fig. I wherein is portrayed a section of wall built according to the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have illustrated a system of reenforcing steel in combination with the grooved bricks previously described. By placing vertical steel rods between the courses and immediately opposite one or more vertical grooves, additional rigidity and strength is given to the structure. A cementitious grout is poured between the bricks as before and consequently surrounds the vertical steel reenforcing rods so that the vertical pillars or locks thus formed are steel cored to give additional strength against horizontal movement. If desired, horizontal reenforcing rods 30 may also be employed at appropriate intervals, these preferably being laid across the horizontal ties 23 to hold the same in position prior to the pouring of the grout.

While I have shown the vertical grooves as being semi-cylindrical, it will be understood of course, that other sha-pes would also be applicable. Likewise While I have illustrated a brick employing three grooves as my preferred form and best adapted for ordinary brick work, it willA be evident that the brick could be provided with a varying number of grooves, depending on the size and material of the brick and the type of construction in which it is used.

The holes I9 and 20 as illustrated show a simple means for securing adjustability in positioning the bricks using horizontal ties of a uniform length, but obviously different shaped holes and different shaped recesses may be provided so long as they are differentially spaced from the face I4. I have found from practice that two recesses per hole are suflicient for most brick variations, but if for any reason there is a greater variation in brick size, then additional recesses may be provided to insure the outer faces of all bricks being in one plane.

According to the patent statutes, I have illustrated and described a preferred form of my invention, but it is to be understood that I in no way mean to limit myself to the form shown as the same is merely illustrative of the broad principles involved in my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:-

1. A solid building brick of substantially rectangular shape, a series of grooves on one face thereof, and a pair of irregular holes in said brick, one of said holes being opposite the endmost groove at one end of said brick and having its side wall adjacent said groove arranged to provide at least two bearing surfaces at different distances from the bottom of said groove, and the other hole being opposite another groove in said brick and also having the wall thereof adjacent the groove provided with at least two bearing surfaces.

2. A solid building brick of substantially rectangular shape, a series of grooves on one face thereof, and an irregular hole in said brick, said hole being opposite one of said grooves and having its side wall adjacent said groove so formed as to provide at least two bearing surfaces, each being positioned a different distance from the bottom of said groove than the other.

3. A building construction comprising at least two courses of bricks, each brick having vertical grooves in one face thereof and vertical holes therein in horizontal alignment with certain of said grooves, said bricks being laid so that a groove and horizontally aligned hole in each brick of one course lies opposite a groove and horizontally aligned hole in an opposed brick of the adjacent course, and horizontally extending tie rods set in certain of said horizontally aligned holes and extending across the space bounded by the grooves lying in horizontal alignment with said holes.

4. A building construction comprising at least two courses of bricks, each'brick having vertical grooves in one face thereof and vertical holes therein in horizontal alignment with certain of said grooves, the wall of each hole adjacent the associated groove being provided with a plurality of bearing surfaces differentially spaced from the associated grooves in said bricks, said bricks being laid so that a groove and horizontally aligned hole in each brick of one course lies opposite a groove and horizontally aligned hole in an opposed brick of the adjacent course, and horizontally extending tie rods set in certain of said horizontally aligned holes and extending across the space bounded by th'e grooves lying in horizontal alignment with said holes.

NATHAN DAVIDSON. 

